Color attachment for printing-presses.



E. D. IoIINsIoN.

COLOR ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES. APPLICATION FILED MAY 4, I9I5.

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@vi/Immo Patented July 4, 1916.

E. D. JOHNSTON. COLOR ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. 1915.

Patented J uly 4, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

@noauto/v @vi/Weno E. D. JOHNSTON. coLoR ATTACHMENT TOR PRTNTTNGPRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. 1915.

Patented July 4,1916'.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

E. D. JOHNSTON. COLOR ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING PRESSES.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 4. I9I5. L 1 89.453. A Patented J uly 4, 1916.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

5IN vano'z www0 y j l EDWARD D. JOHNSTON, 0F TACOMA, WASHINGTON.

COLOR ATTACHMENT FOR PRINTING-PRESSES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4:, 19316.

Application filed May 4, 1915. SeriaI No. 25,735.

To all whom 'it may. conce-rn Be it known that I, EDWARD D. JoHns'roN, acitizen of the United States, residlng at Tacoma, in the county ofPierce, State of l ciling color on sheets and especially onsheets Whilethey are in a printing press.

The objects of this invention are to apply color to a sheet eitherbefore or after it is printed.

Further objects are to apply this color in any degree of intensity, overany desired portion of the sheet, and in any form or shape withoutcoloring any other p-art of the sheet; whereby any desired number ofcolors may be placed on different parts of the sheet; and wherebydifferent colors may be superposed on the same part of the sheet.

I attain these and other objects by the devices, mechanisms, andarrangements illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figurel is a side elevation of a portion of a bed press showing my apparatusapplied thereto; Fig. 2 is a plan thereof, a

portion of the apparatus being broken away to reveal the interiorthereof; Fig. 3 is a section of a portion of my apparatus in ac tion;Fig. 4 is a perspective view of one of the slide blocks; Fig. 5 is asimilar view of one of the color nozzles; Fig. 6 is a perspective view,from the rear,showing a portion of the stencil-carrying cylinder; Fig. 7is a plan of the color control mechanism; Fig. 8 is a perspective viewof one of the adjustable cam plates; Fig. 9 is a side elevation andsection showing the color control mechanism in action; Fig. 10 is aperspective view of a portion of the apparatusyillustrating its action;and Fig. 11 is aside elevation of a printing press on which a pluralityof my apparatus are mounted in order to superpose a number of colors onthe Same portion of the printed sheet.

Similar numeralsA of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

This invention uses the well known mpg- `ing bed sheet printing pressand also Well known air brush for applying the color t0 theprintedjsheet and since these parts of the device are already well knownI have not shown them in detail nor will their action or construction bedescribed. except in so far as they affect the results to be attained.

In general, this invention consists in apparatus for carrying a stencilin contact with a moving sheet, and for' spraying the color through thestencil on the desired portion of the sheet. This may be done withoutany connection with the printing press or it may be done either beforeor after the sheet has been printed but, in practice, I-l

prefer to use it in connection with a printing press and after the sheethas been printed on, as shown in the drawings. In order to do this it isevident that the stencil must move exactly with the sheet, must registerwith the printing thereon, and the color must be -applied when the saidstencil and sheet are very close together. Further, the color should beejected by the nozzle only at such times as it isto be used.

' This invention allows the application of a number of colors to aprinted sheet without having to4 pass the sheet through the press morethan the one time when it is printed, thus cutting down the' expense ofAproducing colored prints for lvarious purposes. v It also eliminates thenecessity of having an expensive plate made for each color since thestencil can be cut from very cheap material and several colors can beapplied through the same stencil either simulf taneously orsuccessively, either in continuous blocks of color or in tine lines orother shapes. It is therefore readily seen that my invention permits agreat reduction in the cost of producing various classes of colorprinting, such as half-tones, maps, post-- Asecurely fastened to andmoves with the rotating platen cylinder 3 in the usual Way. The colorprojecting apparatus is positioned within a rotating doublestencil-carrying cylinder made of fine wire mesh or other suitable openconstruction between which y, through this opening 7.

the stencil sheet 4 is clamped. The inner cylinder 5, of this doublestencil-carrier, is preferably made of thin bars or strong wire mesh andslides freely over a ixed concentric metallic cylinder 6. This cylinder6 has a slot or narrow opening 7 on the line joining the center of thecylinder 3 with that of the cylinder 6. The color is sprayed Referringto Fig. 3, it will be seen that I have provided troughs 8 on the innerside of the cylinder 6, above and below the slot 7, to carry away thewaste color which was not projected through the opening 7. The fixedcylinder 6 also has an opening 9, at a point about opposite to the slot7, through from the frame,

A disks 10. These ders formed on A number of dovetailed which the colornozzles may be reached for adjustment. The fixed cylinder 6 is supportedat each end on stationary disks 10, said disks being mounted onnon-rotating shafts suitably mounted in the frame of the machine. Thedisks 10 are spaced inward as shown in Fig. 2, and rotating gear wheels1l are mounted on the said fixed shafts between the frame and the gears11 mesh with a gear 12 on the platen cylinder 3 and are driven thereby.A shoulder is formed on the gears 11 on the sides adjacent the disks 10forming thus a rotating disk on which the inner and outerstencil-carrying cylinders 5 and 13 are secured at their two ends. Thegears 11 and 12 are arranged so that thespeed of the stencil 4, which isplaced between the two concentric cylinders 5 and 13, will correspondwith that of the'printed sheet 2, and so that the stencil sheet4 will bein close proximity to the said sheet 2. In practice the gears 11 willbe'of one-half the diameter of the gears 12. The cylinders 5 and 13 areseparately secured at each end to the shoulthe gears 11 so that theouter cylinder 13, which may conveniently be made of fine wire mesh, maybe loosened to insert, remove or adj ust the sheet of stencil 4 withoutloosening the inner cylinder 5 on which the sheet 4 is supported. Also aportion of both of said cylinders 5 and 13 may be loosened in order toinsert the hand through the opening9 in the fixed cylinder 6 to adjustthe color nozzles within the cylinder 6.

The color nozzles 14 (Fi 5) are of any approved type and are providedwith slotted rearward Aprojections 15. A fixed bar 16, having adovetailed slot 17 in its upper side, is secured between the two fixeddisks 10. slide Ablocks 18 (Fig. 4) fit in the slot 17, each having ascrew-threaded pin 19 extending upward therefrom. The pin 19 passesthrough the slot in the projection 15 and a nut 20 is screwed thereon,thus itis apparent that the nozzles 14 can be adjusted laterally on themachine by sliding the blocks 18 in the slot v and which is made 17 andlongitudinally by sliding the nozzle on the pin 19 nearer to or fartherfrom the stencil 4, thus controlling the intensity of color, and alsothe nozzles may be turned at anyfangle to spray a graded intensity ofcolor on the sheet. These adjustments are clearly shown in Fig. v2. Eachnozzle is provided with a flexible supply tube 2l -which passes theretofrom their respective color pots 22, through one of the fixed shafts 23which support the disks 10 and gears 11, hollow for this purpose.

Referring now particularly to Figs. 1, 7, 8 and 9. The shaft of thecylinder 3 has a gear 24 thereon, which meshes with the gear 25, whichis mounted on a shaft on which the color control cams and the crank ofthe air pump 26 are also mounted. This pump 26 may be of any approvedtype and compresses air in a tank 27 from which it i`s led to thevarious color pots 22. One or more pipes 21 lead from each color. pot 22to av control valve and thence to the Vnozzles 14.V The pipes 21 allpass from the respective pots 22 to a plate 28 suitably secured to theframe, each such pipe 21 communicating with a separate passage 29through the plate and leading thence from the plate to the nozzle. Aslot 30 intersects the passage 29 within the bar 28, and a slidevalve-plate 31 rides in each slot 30 and is adapted to close or openeach passage 29 according to its position. Each plate 31 is engaged atits free end by the end of an operating lever 32 suitably pivoted to theframe. The other end of each lever 32 is provided with a. roller 33adapted to engage the operating cam. In practice I arrange the plate 28so that all the passages 29 therein will come in line with eachother,thus bringing the plates 31 side by side and bringing all the rollers 33in a line, side by side, so that each will be engaged by its own cam.

The shaft of the wheel 25 has a drum 34 secured to it, said drum havinga series of grooves 1n its surface, and said grooves having screw-holes36, equally spaced apart, in its bottom surface. The cam .plates consistof a portion 37 adapted to lie within the groove 35 and having anelongated slot 38 adapted to receive the clamping screw 39 which entersone of the said holes 36, the length ofsaid slot 38 being greater thanthe distance between said holes 36. This portion 37 has a cam lug 40extending outward therefrom, said lug being adapted to engage andyoperate one of said rollers 33 which is correspondingly positioned. The

be sprayed throug thereby, and its lposition on the drum 34 is adjustedby sliding the part 37 in the groove 35 until the lug 40 engages theroller 33 at the desired moment and then clamping it in ioo lio

Llamas said position by tightening the clamping screw 39. Any desirednumber ofthese lugs 40 may` be arranged around the drum to produce thespray from any one of the nozzles at the desired instants. i

Referring now to Fig. llz--I have illustrated herein a plurality of myapparatus arranged to superpose one color on another or in the line ofmotion of the other. The arrangement of the parts are all similar tothat already described except that all the cams are mounted on a singleshaft and the pipes from the color pots are conducted'to thepropernozzles, whether in one cylinder or another. In the case illustrated itis necessary that the color applied by the appa.-

ratus marked A shall be sprayed on the sheet before the sheet has beenprinted, and

that the colors from the other two apparatus marked B and C shall besprayed thereon Aafter the sheet leaves the printing surface, the reasonbeing that on the second revolution of the platen cylinder 3 the sheet 2is not'secured thereto and therefore, if the color were applied duringthe second revolution, it would not register with the printing or withthe other colors applied thereto.

From the above description it will be readily understood that anynumber, within the limits of the machine, of nozzles may be arranged toproject color through the open-4 ings cut in the stencil sheet andtherefore each nozzle will apply its color, in the form of said stencilopening, on the printing surface of the sheet of paper which liesimmediately adjacent to and moves exactly with the said stencil, andthat each said nozzle may apply its color once, or any number of times,to each such sheet. It must be understood however that each nozzleprojects only one color through the stencil and that if two colors areto be applied to the same area, or to any point in the line of travel ofthat area, it will usually be necessary to provide a second duplicatecolor projecting apparatus as shown in Fig. 11, which said apparatuswill have its own stencil, which may be wholly different in appearanceto the stencil of the first apparatus, through which the appropriatecolors will be projected 4at the proper time. Thus it will be seen thatany color or colors can be applied by my apparatus to an already printedsheet while it is still in the press, and that without any handling asheet completely printed and colored will be produced at a. minimum ofexpense, and with a great saving in time and labor and therefore with avery material reduction in cost.

The stencil sheet may be made of paper, card board, thin zinc, or anyother thin sheet of material which leads itself to the purpost. Sincethe stencil is held at a very large number of points it willnever slipout of place when once set. The chief objection to stencils as formerlyused is. found in the fact that closed letters or figures-such asO-could not be made without bridging across the circumscribing slit, inorder to support and hold the central part in position. lVith my stencilcarrier the central part is held just as firmly as the rest of thestencil land therefore no such bridging is necessary. Since the airbrush is stationary and sprays along diverging lines, and since thecarrier, stencil, and receiving sheet are lmoving it is evident that thewires of the carrier which cross the said slit in the stencil will leaveno mark on the yreceiving sheet because the spray strikes the sheet fromdifferent directions.

It will readily be understood that this apparatus may be used in a largevariety of work from the fine post-card and colored half-tone work tothe great blocks of color used in bill-board sheets. When the inventionis used for coloring half-tones it will be understood that the properlyprepared plate on the press will providethe ground work of the pictureand that a solid' color block applied thereto will in no way interferewith the picture but will tint it uniformly all over; that if a frisketor piece of stencil of any shape is inserted between the stencilcarryingcylinders in will leave a correspondingly untinted area on the picture,

which area may subsequently be tinted by acolor from a second or thirdapparatus as desired. The printed half-tone wil-l provide all the shadoweffects by the'familiar dots. lf the stencil cylinders are erected in aseparate frame from the printing press then the sheet is carried on acylinder corresponding with the cylinder 3 as above described, and thecolors are applied thereto, after which the sheet may be transferred tothe printing press for the type or half-tone work. In

this case care must be taken in bringing the colored'sheet to a correctregister with the printing press in order that the Work of the twomachines shall properly cooperate to produce the finished product.

Having described my invention, what l claim is:

1. In a machine of the class described, the combination with astationary guide plate whose outer face is curved to form a. portion ofthe surface of a cylinder; of a pair of concentric rotary cylindersmounted outside of said guide plate, the inner of said cylinders beingin contact therewith and guided thereby, each said cylinder formed ofopen work to permit the substantially unretarded passage of spraytherethrough; a stencil sheet held between saidA rotary cylinders andcarried thereby; and means for applying a spray of color through therotary cylinders and the opening in the termined point guide plate.

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with means forholding and moving a sheet to be colored; a stencilsheet; rotary meansfor holding said stencil sheet in substantially first sheet; drivingmeans connecting said first sheet holding and moving means with saidstencil sheet rotary holding means whereby said sheets move in accordthe one with the other; a stationary air brush mounted Within saidrotary stencil sheet holding means and adapted to project a spray ofcolor through the stencil sheet as the opening therein passes said pointof rolling contact; and means controlled by said first sheet holding andmoving means for controlling said air brush whereby it will apply saidspray only at the desired moments.

3. In a machine of the class described, the sheet to be colored; of

combination with a means for holding and moving said sheet; a stencilsheet; rotary means for holding said stencil sheetin substantiallyrolling contact with said first sheet; driving means .connecting saidfirst sheet holding and moving means with said stencil sheet rotaryholding means whereby said sheets move in accord the one with the other;an air brush; stationary ,means for adjustably holding said air brushwithin said rotary stencil sheet 'holding means whereby the position andintensity of the spray of color from the air brush may be adjusted; andmeans controlled by said first sheet holding and movadjacent the edge ofsaid rolling contact with saidl ing means for controlling said air brushwhereby it will project a spray of color through the stencil sheet asthe opening therein passes said point of rolling contact.

4. In a machine of the class described, the combination with astationarycylinder, having a slot across its face; of a pair of rotary cylindersmounted concentric with and outside of said stationary cylinder and eachformed of open work to permit the substantially unretarded passagetherethrough of a spray; a stencil sheet held between said rotarycylinders and carried thereby; and means for applying a spray of colorthrough the slot in said fixed cylinder and through the rotary cylindersand the opening in the stencil sheet as -said opening passes the slot insaid fixed cylinder.

5. In a machine of the class described, the combination with astationary cylinder, having a slot across its face; of a pair of rotarycylinders mounted concentric with, adjacent to, and outside of said iXedcylinder and each formed of open work to permit the ,substantiallyunretarded passage therethrough of a spray; a stencil sheet held betweensaid rotary cylinders and carried thereby; means for applying a spray ofcolor through the slotv in the fixed cylinder and through the rotarycylinders and the opening in the stencil sheet as said opening passesthe slot in the fixed cylinder; and means for controlling said sprayingmeans whereby the spray is emitted only when an opening in the stencilsheet is in l1ne with said slot in the Hxed cylinder.

EDWARD D. JOHNSTON.

